The Public Safety Officer Support Act of 2022 (SOSA) was signed into law in August 2022 and may afford benefits to public safety officers who died or became disabled due to actions taken to take their own life. Here is a link to review more about the SOSA Law. This new law is back-dated to include actions taken on or after January 1, 2019.
There is a three-year statute of limitation, from the date of death or disability, to file for the claim. Since this is a very new law, the Department of Justice is granting an extension to the filing deadline. We do not know how long this extension will be granted. Timing is imperative to insure we do not miss a filing deadline for a possible claim. We know not all families of victims of suicide will qualify for the benefit, yet we want to ensure every case is reviewed for potential eligibility.
This law is very new, and all nuances regarding filing requirements are not yet known. We do know the suicidal act must be related to one of the outlined “events” in the law.
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Mass Casualty event
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Incident that exceeds normal resources for emergency response that is available in the area
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Incident that results in surge of injured individuals
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Mass Fatality event
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Fatalities of at least three individuals at one or more locations close to one another with a common cause
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Mass Shooting
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Fatalities of at least three individuals as the result of a firearm within a single event at one or more locations close to one another
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Traumatic event
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Homicide, suicide or violent or gruesome death of another individual
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Harrowing circumstance posing significant danger or threat of life or serious bodily harm to the public safety officer
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Act of criminal sexual violence committed against an individual
Parameters outlined in the law must be present, in order for the family to potentially be eligible for benefits. Not all public safety officer suicides and disabilities due to suicide attempt will qualify.
If you know of a public safety officer who died by suicide or who became disabled due to a suicide attempt, we would like to gather information to see if the family may qualify for the Federal Public Safety Officer Benefit. Please complete the following form, and we will follow up with you.
https://golamacinc.formstack.com/forms/public_safety_officer_suicides